Meridian Port Services Limited (MPS), the leading Container Terminal/Port in West Africa, has achieved another milestone by successfully receiving MSC Natasha which loaded about 2,200 containers at Tema Port.
The MSC Natasha started her voyage from the Far East port of Dongguan Anch in the early hours of 14th October and stopped at several ports – starting with a 21-hour call at Chiwan on 15th October, then a 1 day – 10 hours stay in Singapore on the 22nd October, followed by a 13-hour stop in Colombo on 27th October.
She then proceeded on a direct call to West Africa, going around the Cape of Good Hope, stopping at Lomé on the 12th of November and arriving in Tema on 18th November at 0600h and sailed by midday on 19th November.
Besides the many thousands of containers which had been loaded and offloaded at the various port stops, the MSC Natasha discharged and loaded at MPS Terminal 3 a total of 3,524 TEUs of gateway volume to Ghana and the neighbouring landlocked countries; but more interestingly, MSC Natasha brought with her 2,200 TEUs which belong to South America.
The 2,200 TEUs of transhipment containers will stay at MPS Terminal 3 for a few days and then be loaded onto MSC ALBANY for shipping to the respective final country of destination in South America (mainly Brazil).
MSC Natasha was built in 2011 and her length overall (LOA) is 366m, beam is 48m. Her Gross Tonnage is 141,649 tonnes with container capacity of 13,556 TEUs. She is one of 15 vessels operated by MSC on this Far East-West Africa weekly service that enjoys a berthing window arrangement at MPS’ Terminal 3.
Transhipment at the centre of the world
It was in 1884 that the Greenwich Meridian was established at the International Meridian Conference held in October 1884 at Washington, D.C., as the line of zero Longitude, forming the basis for navigation and time-keeping throughout the world.
Running from the North to the South Pole and separating the Eastern Hemisphere from the Western, this Prime Meridian Line (0° E/W) passes through the centre of the Harbour Basin of MPS Terminal 3 at Tema Port, which is the closest point on Earth to the Centre of the World – where the Greenwich Meridian Line (zero-degree longitude) crosses with the Equator Line (zero-degree latitude).
MPS, by virtue of its location at the centre of the world as well as its commitment to continuous improvement in infrastructure, superstructure and the service levels, provides stakeholders the best of the world’s technology to boost its operations.
Furthermore, it superb investment in creating valuable opportunity to the shipping lines has been put to good use in connecting continents and effectively serving markets, thanks to the enabling infra & superstructure of MPS Terminal 3.
Chief Executive Officer of MPS, Mohamed Samara, mentioned some of the key developments at MPS Terminal 3 that led to Port Tema attaining the status of a shipping hub: “The efficiency, accessibility, the short waiting time at anchorage, fast vessel turnaround time, higher port capacity and berth availability are the optimal criteria for making Terminal 3 a hub on the west coastline of Africa. Moreover, MPS Terminal m3 has the best synchronised frequency of calls (berthing Windows), number of shipping lines and highest volume per vessel call in West Africa, making it the ideal first port of call with the shortest trade transit time and transhipment facilities,” said Mr Samara.
Meridian Port Services Limited (MPS) is a joint venture between the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority and Meridian Port Holdings Limited, with Bolloré Transport & Logistics and APM Terminals. MPS is the region’s most efficient Container Terminal, providing shipping lines with the highest productivity levels (discharge/load), with a real-time electronic data interchange using top-notch Terminal Operating Systems.
